"Root Causes" of Terrorism

Here are some quotes that I think are relevant as to how we deal with the threat of terrorism. The following quotes are all from Alan Dershowitz.

"An act of terrorism should be the occasion only for punishment and incapacitation, not for negotiation and consideration of root causes."

"The search for 'root causes' smacks more of after-the-fact political justification than inductive scientific inquiry. The variables that distinguish aggrieved groups willing to target innocent civilians from equally situated groups unwilling to murder children have far less to do with legitimacy of their causes or the suffering of their people that with religious, cultural, political and ethical differences."

"If you resort to terrorism, we will try harder to understand your grievances and respond to them than we would have if you employed less violent means, is the wrong message to sent."

"Repression and desperation are not the 'root causes' that people become terrorists, the 'root cause' is that terrorism is often rewarded."

"Terrorism will persist as long as it continues to work for those who use it, as long as the international community rewards it, as it has been doing for the past thirty-five years."

"How we deal with international terrorism is quickly becoming the defining issue of out age."

I hope they gave you an idea as to how I feel about how we should deal with terrorism, I would have given it to you in my own words but posting quotes is easier than writing it myself, especially if the person you are quoting gets your point across as good or better than you could do.